John Anderson enters his first season as an assistant coach for Northern Illinois University after spending the previous two campaigns on the Colorado staff under head coach Ricardo Patton.

Anderson, a well renowned high school coach in Tennessee for 18 years, was a Colorado assistant from 2005-07. During his time in Boulder, he was responsible for off-campus recruiting, scouting and the Ricardo Patton Basketball Camps.

As head coach at Hillcrest High School in Memphis, Tenn., from 1987-2005, Anderson was a three-time recipient of the Tennessee Athletic Coaching Association's Coach of the Year (1994, 95, 96), two-time District 16AA Coach of the Year (1995, 96) and two-time selection to the "Best of the Prep" Top Five Coaches (1994, 95). During the 1993-94 campaign, Anderson helped Hillcrest to 17th in the national poll after leading them to a 25-0 record.

A 1980 graduate of Stillman College, Anderson was named the Tigers' Defensive Player of the Year in 1980 and earned the Desire to Win award in 1979. Anderson earned his bachelor of arts in health and physical education from Stillman, and later picked up his master's degree in biology from Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee.

Anderson, a native of Como, Mississippi, is married to the former Tiffany Beason, and has six children including: Latashia (29), Jerametrius (28), Sharonda (27), Tameka (21), John Jr. (7) and Janesia (1). Jerametrius is a professional football player with the St. Louis Rams.